


Spanish Lessons

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: M/M, Student/teacher relationship, Tinkerlu's AU, more to be added - Freeform, spanish-speaking!karkat, teacher!dave
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-13
Updated: 2013-10-29
Packaged: 2017-12-23 08:48:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/924319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This boy.</p><p>This boy was going to get you fired.</p><p>And you would have mixed feelings of regret…and something else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> i've wanted to write a fic based on tinkerlu's teacher!dave/spanish-speaking!karkat au for 5ever, so here is the thing.
> 
> future chapters will most likely be longer, but hey, who really knows, y'know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first day of school and there is a cute boy in Dave's 3rd period class.

The day you met Karkat, you smiled down at him as you handed him a syllabus and he scowled at you, blushing slightly, and you thought it was cute.

You thought it was cute because he was a kid and you were an adult and adults are supposed to view children as cute because it’s demeaning and makes the adult feel better about themselves.

You thought he was cute in a childish way.

But also, he was just cute. Cute in a way that wasn’t ok for you to view your students as.

At his sheepish expression, you wondered how long it would be unil he turned 18 before mentally chiding yourself. You frowned at his cheek as he turned away from you and turned to the next student who grinned at you through crooked and uneven teeth, his tongue sticking out slightly as he smiled and you handed a syllabus to him.

You were reminded of a dog.

"Thankth, Mr. Th," he said and you strained a grin before he winked at you, Jesus, he winked at you from behind his blue and red tinted glasses, so you turned away immediately, wearing a blank expression as you handed out the syllabus to the rest of the students.

"Alright, kids," you said as you took your place at the front of the room. Center of attention, yes, this was the right spot for you. It was an added bonus that there was no one sitting in front of the cute kid, so you had a perfect view of him. "Welcome to Biology. Most of you are probably freshmen. Some of you are obviously upper classmen; I can tell from your jaded expressions, don’t deny it. And some of you, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen you in one of my classes. In this class, exactly. And to you few, I say: welcome back. Good to see you again. Try doing your homework this year and see how far that gets you."

You went over the syllabus with the class, talked over assignments and tests, combatted arguments meant to dissuade you when you mentioned the number of group assignments. When you explained that groups would be divided by the seating arrangement, half the class groaned while the other half cheered; you noticed Karkat and the lispy guy beside him grin at each other and perform an intricate high five handshake combo manuever and you held back a snort.

Dorks.

During the introduction exercise when you forced each student to stand up in front of the class and recite a brief statement about themselves, some students went far more into detail than you cared to hear about, while others kept it short and to the point. When it was Karkat’s turn, he turned to you with apprehensive eyes.

You grinned and nodded at him, popping a pen in your mouth. “Go ahead.”

"Karkat Vantas. 17. Senior. My second time taking this class. _A pesar de cuánto creo que esta clase es una pérdida de tiempo, ansío a mirar tu dulce culo en frente de la clase para el resto del año_ "

The pen between your teeth snapped and your shoulders tensed. A few kids in the class chuckled and you pulled the pen out of your mouth, leaning forward in your seat.

"What did you say?"

Karkat rolled back his shoulders only to put them in the same position they had been in before. Hunched over with his arms across his chest, chin tucked against his thorax, he opened his mouth again.

" _A pesar de cuánto creo que esta clase es una pérdida de_ \-- "

"Mr. Vantas, I’m gonna need you to repeat that _in English._ "

His cheeks seemed to turn a shade darker, but you had to have been imagining it. “What do you have against Spanish?”

"I can’t understand it, that’s what I have against it."

"Because you don’t understand something, that means no one else is allowed to appreciate it?"

"No, because I’m the teacher, I get to decide what language you, the student, speak to me in during classtime. Or else."

"It’s not my fault you don’t speak Spanish," he said, finally pulling his head up and looking you in the eyes. He wore a look so indignant that you were almost proud until you realized that the indignation was towards yourself. "When you work in a school that’s 35% Spanish-speaking students and you can’t speak the language, it’s pretty much your own fault if you can’t understand every sentence that comes out of a student’s mouth."

"How about this, Mr. Vantas," you leaned back, popping a new pen in place between your tongue and cheek. "I cordially invite you to spend your very first day in detention. After school. My room. You may sit down now."

He huffed and glanced at you once through narrowed eyes before sitting down and turning his glare to his friend, who punched him once lightly in the shoulder and gave him a grin that you didn’t trust.

The students continued with the introductions, after which you handed out markers and paper for everyone to make a nametag with. The bell rang soon afterwards and you sighed with relief, shooing the teenagers out of your room from behind your desk. A few strays straggled behind, taking their time as they gathered their things. The strays included Karkat and his friend. They mumbled something to each other, Karkat shooting a glance to you and Sollux raising one eyebrow at the other. If they had been arguing, it seemed as if Sollux gave up since he shrugged and left the room.

The last few strays were not too far behind him, Karkat included with them, but when they passed your desk to leave the room, he paused, biting his lip and staring down at you.

You pulled your glasses down with your pinky finger and returned his gaze. "Can I help you with something, Mr. Vantas?"

"You can just call me Karkat," he said, smiling weakly at you, "not Mr. Vantas. It sounds weird when people call me that."

You cocked an eyebrow at him, leaning back and kicking your legs up to rest against your desk. "If I call you Karkat, are you still going to insist on speaking Spanish to me?"

"Am I speaking Spanish to you now?"

You raised both eyebrows in a challenge and he averted your gaze, looking down at his shoes. "Sorry," he mumbled, tugging on the straps of his backpack and the phrase _adorable_ drifted through your mind, "I lost a bet with a friend, the guy sitting next to me, so I had to say that in front of the class. All I said was that I don't like biology, really."

"Sounded pretty wordy for 'I don't like biology.'"

He tugged at the straps of his bag again, rearranging them against his shoulders and you could swear that blush ran across his cheeks again. "I used a little more colorful language, but the gist of it was me expressing my dislike for biology."

"Ok, Karkat," you twisted the pen in your mouth, looking him up and down while his vision was still focused on his shoes. He wore a baggy grey sweater and black pants and you wondered why he would wear so much clothing, not because you wanted to see more of him, but because you were worrying about him overheating. It was still fairly warm outside, he must be uncomfortable with so much clothing on. Your grip tightened on your pen and you ignored the path that string of thoughts was leading you down. "Why don't you like biology?" You asked.

He shrugged and met your gaze again. "It doesn't agree with me."

"Biology agrees with everything, it is literally the study of living things. If you are living, then biology agrees with you. Hell, even if you're dead. If you at one point in time were alive or had the potential to be alive, then biology is your friend."

"Alright, fine, biology is my friend," he said, rolling his eyes. "That doesn't make it any easier to learn."

"Alright," you repeated, "I guess you have a point." You tapped your finger against your lips and looked him over once more. He watched you warily, clearing his throat and opening his mouth to speak.

"What do you have against Spanish?"

"I've got nothing against it," you answered.

_Nothing except for the fact that it's one of my biggest turn-ons and the fact that you are way too cute to be speaking to me in Spanish in front of a group of students._

"My problem is when my students speak to me in a language I don't understand. It's kinda hard to run the class that way, ya get it?"

He nodded and glanced around the room once. "Yeah, I can see your point. I should probably go, you know, got other classes. I just wanted to apologize for before..."

"Apology accepted," you said. "Karkat, how about this: no detention for today. I feel like we ended up on the wrong foot. As an act of good will, I want to let you off the hook, just this once."

"Really?" He looked at you in disbelief, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes. "Uh, okay, if that's -- "

"Not off the hook completely, though," you continued. "Instead, you'll come visit me for your lunch period."

He stiffened and you immediately knew you'd made the right decision.

"I don't know, Mr. Strider, I kind of had plans..."

"Detention after school or your lunch period with me, Vantas. It's your choice."

He let his gaze linger on you for a moment longer until he turned away, glancing in the direction of the skeleton you kept at the front of the classroom. "Fine, whatever, as long as I don't have to come in after school, I guess."

"Got big plans after school? Is there a sock hop you're dying to attend?"

He snorted and looked at you again and you couldn't help but notice the rusty color of his eyes.

"Yeah, that's it," he answered. "You guessed it, teach."

"I knew it." You grinned at him and waved your pen toward the door. "Now scamper off to your next class before you're late."

You watched him as he backed out of the room, giving you a short wave. "Thanks, Mr. Stri -- "

He took one wrong step and tripped into the skeleton, catching himself on a desk before he fell to the ground, letting out a curse and _adorable_ slipped through your mind again.

"Fucking _skeletons_ , I swear to god -- "

"Hey, he has a name," you said, biting back a laugh. "His name is Wilfred. Be kind to Wilfred."

He glanced back at you and grimaced, straightening himself up and dusting Wilfred off. "Wilfred, _bajate a los chescos._ "

Your stomach churned and your body tensed. Before you could say anything, he waved one last time before walking out of the room.

He had to be cute. He had to be _hot_ , and speak fluent Spanish. And he just had to keep dropping Spanish phrases into conversation.

You wondered if you could somehow get a recording of him speaking Spanish without his knowledge, maybe tape a recorder to the underside of his desk, snap a photo of him while he wasn't looking, or just print his school photo off of your computer; you had access to those files, so why not take advantage --

No. Wrong. This was wrong. You were going overboard. He was just an attractive student who happened to speak Spanish, the latter quality just happening to be one of your biggest turn-ons.

You yanked open your drawer and pulled your phone out, opening the Pesterchum app and typing away.

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] \--

TG: rose  
TG: rose help  
TG: one of my students is hot help what do i do  
TG: i think i want  
TG: i mean  
TG: if he was of age and not my student, i definitely  
TG: would frick the hell out of that  
TG: rose  
TG: what do i do  
TT: Use protection.  
TG: fuck you

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] \--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'll be putting translations of what karkat says in spanish in the end notes of each chapter.
> 
>  _A pesar de cuánto creo que esta clase es una pérdida de tiempo, ansío mirando tu dulce culo en el frente de la clase para el resto del año._ = "Despite how much I think that this class is a waste of time, I look forward to watching your sweet ass in front of the class for the rest of the year."
> 
>  _bajate a los chescos._ = "suck my dick."


	2. Translate This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lunchtime detention with KK Strider.
> 
> Special guest appearance by R. Lalonde.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOOK I ACTUALLY UPDATED A FIC
> 
> i don't know what's wrong with me it's just been really hard to write anything lately. thank u all 4 ur patience. i'm sorry. but i have plans for this fic. i p much have the whole thing planned out and think it will be 20 chapters or less. I'M SORRY I WILL TRY HARDER TO WRITE. GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

You chucked your phone back into the drawer and slammed it shut.

That was a mistake. You should have known better.

You could handle this problem alone.

Problem? What problem? This wasn’t a problem, wasn’t an issue. It wasn’t like you hadn’t had hot students before. It wasn’t like you hadn’t had Spanish-speaking students before. You’d go home, jerk off, or maybe go out and get laid and you’d be fine. All you needed was a speedy release, and you’d be back at the top of your game. Karkat would be just another student to you. You stretched your arms, cracking your knuckles behind your head and sighing. Alright. You had a plan, a course of action.

You swiveled closer to your desk and began looking through the drawers for supplies. Detention with Karkat was in two periods, and you had preparations to make.

==>

As the last of your students shuffled out of your classroom and towards their lunch break, Karkat came into view. A set of poster paper, markers, post-it notes, and an open textbook were set out and waiting for him. He eyed them as he entered the room, glancing up at you for an explanation.

"I’ve got a project for you," you said, grinning at him as you moved away from the desk you had been leaning against. "A Spanish-Biology immersion project."

He scowled at you and you were reminded of an aggravated kitten. “What the fuck does that mean?”

"Hey," you pointed a finger at him, giving him your patented ' _I’m a stern teacher but also a cool guy_ ' look, "keep the cursing to a minimum, alright? Wouldn’t want to have to give you detention twice in one day."

The twitch of his eyes told you how badly he wanted to roll them at you so you grinned as he mumbled out an apology. But he asked for an explanation, so you continued.

"You’re going to translate for me."

His eyebrow crept up to meet his hairline. “Translate what?”

You shrugged and slid the textbook across the desk towards him. “You decide. Maybe something that would be relevant to a bilingual student such as yourself, or someone who doesn’t have as elegant of a grasp on the English language as you seem to have. I feel like the room is missing something,” you held your hand out, gesturing towards your blank walls, "so I thought it'd be nice to add a little something. Y'know, maybe some posters with English and Spanish definitions. You were right about a good portion of this school speaking Spanish, so maybe it's time I got with the program, right?"

"Right." He narrowed his eyes at the book, then back up at you. "And my punishment for being right is more bookwork."

You nodded. "You got it."

"Fucking wonderful -- excuse me, I mean, _diddly darn_ wonderful."

"That's the spirit!" You reached forward, ruffling his hair. It was softer than you expected; the blush that crept across his cheeks was also a surprise. He frowned and crossed his arms across his chest and you jerked your hand back, letting it sit awkwardly at your chest for several moments. Rust-colored eyes glanced up at you from beneath thick lashes before he fell down into the seat, pulling the textbook towards himself.

"Anything I translate, you'll put up on the wall?"

You nodded. "Anything that pertains to _biology_."

"How will you know?" He asked, resting his hand on his chin and flipping through the textbook. "If it's actually relevant to biology or not, how will you know? Since you don't speak the language, I mean. I could make up anything. I could put down ' _tengo que miar que mis dientes flotan_ ' and tell you it was the definition of 'mitosis' and you would never know."

You ignored the shiver that went through you at his words and leaned forward, resting your hands against the desk on either side of the textbook he looked through. "Because I trust you, Karkat, and I know you would never do anything to betray that trust, right?"

He looked up at you with a furrowed brow as if he were assessing your sincerity before he shook his head, turning back down towards the book. A hand ran through his hair and his curls popped back into place as his hand glided across his scalp and you were reminded of how soft his hair had been. His palm stopped at hsi forehead, resting there and blocking his face from your view.

"Plus," you added, "I'll ask Ms. Serket to look over it for me."

"Serket? Doesn't she teach French?" 

"She does," you answered, turning to face your desk. "She is also fluent in Spanish. I believe she's fluent in all of the latin-based languages, including latin. Anyway, she's much more reliable than Google." You sat back in your seat, turning your attention towards the stack of papers in front of you. "So don't try to pull anything, ok?"

You looked up once to make sure he wasn't rolling his eyes or showing you his middle finger (although to be perfectly honest you probably would have found it _endearing_ if he had been doing either), but he was doing neither. His head was turned down, eyes scanning the book you had given him. So you did the same, turning your head towards your work. Being the kind-hearted man that you are, you hadn't assigned any work on the first day; but you did have each student turn in a short introduction paragraph to correlate with the introduction they gave in front of the class.

Karkat grumbled to himself as you each did your separate work, creating a frustrated ambience that you thought suited him. The stack of papers grew thinner and Karkat's flustered noises grew quieter until you reached his class, 2nd period Biology. _Solluxander Captor_ was scrawled at the top of the page. His introduction paragraph was identical to what he had said in class; he talked about his love of bees and 3D technology and the taste of mustard and apple juice (you gave him bonus points for his love of AJ). Although his penmanship was nigh unreadable. It was even less comprehensive than his speech, despite the heavy lisp.

Despite his terrible handwriting, he had still completed the assignment. You gave him a red checkmark and flipped his paper over onto the second pile. The paper beneath his belonged to Karkat.

You really shouldn't have been surprised by what you found written on his assignment.

"Karkat."

"What?"

He turned his face up and you were pleased by the jump you caused when he realized how close you had gotten to him. You were leaning over his desk, holding his assignment a few inches in front of his nose.

"This your assignment?"

The look he wore matched any you had ever given to an authority figure in your youth. The indignation sculpted his bros into perfect arcs just below his hairline as he spoke.

"It's got my name on it, doesn't it?"

"It does." You stood up straight, stretching your torso to reach your full height. "I've got a new project for you. For this project, you won't need the book," you said as you picked up the textbook set before him, slamming it shut a little too forcefully. "I want you to make posters that say 'all assignments turned in or presented in front of the class must be in English.'" You faced away from him, heading back to your desk and tossing the book onto the desktop. "'And legible.' Add that in for your friend. His handwriting is atrocious."

The room was silent except for the sounds of you settling into your seat and shuffling papers around your desk. _Adorable_ wasn't the right word for him. _Belligerent_ was more appropriate, you decided.

"To be fair," Karkat said, "the assignment was to write down what we said. That's what I said. It's in Spanish because I spoke in Spanish."

You frowned at your desk, the aggravation you had felt moments before evaporating as a smile spread across your face and you let out a laugh. You raised your head to look him in the eye, and he watched you for a moment, confused by your reaction.

"Alright, Karkat, you got me," you continued laughing and his mouth curved, it curved the tiniest bit, and it made your smile widen. "You did exactly what I asked of you. I can't blame you for that."

You held his gaze for a moment longer until he looked back down towards his desk, catching the nail of his thumb between his finger and hiding his mouth behind his palm. You turned back to the papers you were grading, still wearing the smile on your face.

==>

He apologized before the lunch period was over.

He stood in front of your desk, holding two small posters in his hand and averting your gaze. "Sorry, again, about the Spanish thing," he said. "Like I said, Sollux put me up to it. I promise that from now on, no Spanish in your class." He finally looked at you, waving his hands in front of him as he spoke, "none at all."

"I appreciate that." You took the posters from him, looking over them. "I don't mind if you speak it to your classmates, just not on your assignments, ok?"

He nodded and you looked over the posters again, more for show than anything since you couldn't actually read what was written on them. You expected him to run from the room as soon as his assignment was done, but he stood there, looking uncomfortable in front of you, as if he had something to say.

"Is there something else I can help you with, Mr. Vantas?"

"You don't speak any Spanish? At all?"

"None at all."

" _¿Entiendes esto?_ "

"I do not know what you just said."

" _Vete al infierno._ "

This was getting on your nerves, but maybe he could desensitize you and you could get over this fetish.

...Or maybe you could get material for later.

"Still no clue."

" _Cógeme._ "

"No idea what you mean."

" _Podría enseñarte._ "

"Enough, Karkat." You stood from your seat before he could continue and waved your hands towards the door. "You've done what I asked, so...get out."

He backed towards the door and you followed, shooing him out of the room. "I could teach you," he said, taking a step backwards. "If you were interested, I mean."

He stopped, forcing you to stop suddenly, inches away from him. This was too close.

"You want to teach me," you let your words out slowly, taking a step back as you did so, "to speak Spanish?"

The grip he held on the strap of his backpack tightened and he nodded.

"Sorry, I'm not interested." You began walking again, forcing him backwards into your doorway.

"What?" He threw an arm out to grab onto the frame, squeezing the wood between his palm and fingers. "What do you mean? I won't charge you or anything, and it would definitely benefit you, given the number of Spanish-speaking students you must have -- "

"I don't have the time for it," you crossed your arms, glaring at him over your lenses. "And neither do you. It's your senior year, you should be too busy with schoolwork and applying for colleges and...spending time with your friends, whatever. So go do those things instead." You waved your hands again, shooing him away, and he finally released the frame from his grip.

"I just thought," he brought his hands in front of him, writhing his fingers together, "I mean -- I could use some extra help with biology this year, and if I could come to you for help when I needed it, then I could pay you back by teaching you Spanish." His eyes were cast down, but when he had finished talking, he looked back up at you, balling his fists at his side.

"Karkat," you gave him your msot condescending smile as you placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "I'm your teacher. If you need any help, I'm pretty much obligated to help you, regardless of what I've received in return. I want you to come to me if you have questions, but you don't need to pay me back for it. Just do your schoolwork, and I'll be happy."

His face morphed into a scowl as you took your hand away. "Fine, Strider. I tohught maybe I owed you one because of all the Spanish I keep spewing at you, but fine. _He intentado enmendar_ , but if you're just going to refuse my gracious offer, fine, _bolillo. Chingalo. Pinche cabron._ "

You stared, frozen, as he left your classroom, the string of Spanish continuing until he travelled far enough down the hall that it was inaudible.

If anyone were to teach you Spanish, he was certainly among the most qualified. Although, going by the vigor and venom he put into most of his Spanish phrases, you weren't sure if you wanted to be able to translate them.

==>

Rose picked you up after your workday was finished. She had just dropped a manuscript off with her editor and was taking you out to celebrate.

"How was the first day back?" She asked as you climbed into the passenger seat of her Volvo. "Get any interesting new students?"

"It was fine, and fuck you," you answered as you pulled the seat belt across your chest. "I don't want to talk about it, especially not with you. I feel gross enough about it as is," you shuddered for emphasis, "and you'll only make me feel worse."

Rose leaned forward to place a hand on your knee, looking at you with concerned eyes. "Davey, I would never judge you. You know that. I'm here for you if you need to talk about it, really."

You shook your leg free of her grasp and showed her your middle finger. She smiled and shrugged, starting the engine and pulling out of the parking lot. "I can't make you talk if you _really_ don't want to."

"No, you can't. I'm not your therapy puppet. I don't need you analyzing my every moment, ok?"

"Whatever you say, Dave."

She continued to sit perfectly still, her back straight, hands at ten o'clock and two o'clock, a smirk on her face as she stared straight out onto the pavement, not saying a word.

The two of you sat.

In silence.

And it was agonizing to you.

You groaned, slumping down in your seat, crossing your arms, and turning your head to look out the window.

Her grin widened and her eyes flicked to you for a moment before returning to the road. "Is there something you'd like to discuss, Dave?"

"His name," you said, "is Karkat."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> translations!
> 
>  _tengo que miar que mis dientes flotan_ \- "i have to piss so bad my teeth are floating"
> 
>  _¿Entiendes esto?_ \- "do you understand this?"
> 
>  _Vete al infierno._ \- "go to hell"
> 
>  _Cógeme._ \- "fuck me"
> 
>  _Podría enseñarte._ \- "i could teach you"
> 
>  _He intentado enmendar._ \- "i have tried to make amends"
> 
>  _bolilo_ \- in mexico, racial slur for a white person
> 
>  _Chingalo_ \- "fuck it"
> 
>  _Pinche cabron_ \- "fucking asshole"
> 
> my sources for translations: [mexican slang](http://nawcom.com/swearing/mexican_spanish.htm) | [general translations](http://mymemory.translated.net/)
> 
> i am a monolingual loser so if you speak any spanish and see any errors in my translations, please feel free to correct me!


End file.
